News

Members muster for fire prevention

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Bolinger
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Next to a fire hydrant in the Eagles Nest Picnic Area, squadron teams square off in an unconventional battle, wearing the unfamiliar gear of a firefighter: helmet with face shield, thick heat-resistant jacket and pair of gloves; all on top of their BDUs. 

These four-man teams competed in Dover Air Force Base's first annual Fire Muster Oct. 11, competing for the coveted traveling trophy awarded by the base Fire Department. 

A fire muster is usually a meeting between fire departments to showcase their skills and come together for a friendly competition. However, the base decided to have a squadron competition as part of Fire Prevention Week, said Tech. Sgt. Tony Knight, 436th CES fire inspector. It combines fire fighting skills such as hose connection and body drag. 

The first event was a hose connection race. The team had to connect three hoses together, attach an end of the hose to the hydrant and screw a nozzle onto the other end. The time was stopped when a stream of water came out of the nozzle without any leaks in the line. 

The 436th Mission Support Squadron had the fastest time for the event with 38 seconds.
"Winning the hose connection event set the pace for the entire competition," said Airman Eddie Colon, MSS team captain. "The best part of that event was not necessarily winning it, but the fact that we set a plan forward, worked together and were able to show that could work as a team." 

The next event was a four-event relay race with a flash light for a baton, said Sergeant Knight. The first leg of the race was a 150-foot charged fire-hose pull at the end of which the team member had to knock over a set of cones with a stream of water. 

The second piece of the relay was the Kaiser Sled. For this leg a member used a fluorescent-orange sledge hammer made of plastic to strike a heavy object. 

The third event was a body drag, said Sergeant Knight. Members dragged a 185-pound dummy around a set of cones before handing off the flashlight to a teammate. 

"I think the body drag was the hardest (event)," said Tech. Sgt. John Lambert, 436th Maintenance Squadron team captain. "It was 185 pounds of dead weight." 

When the dummy drag was complete the last member of the team crawled through several lengths of corrugated pipe filled with rocks and dirt. 

The team with the fastest time for the relay was the 436th Maintenance Squadron, with 1 minute and 32 seconds. 

"MSS beat us on the fire hose connection event by nine seconds," said Sergeant Lambert. "So by beating them by nine seconds in the relay evened things out." 

The times that teams received in the first two events determined the seeding for the keg push tournament, said Sergeant Knight. 

A keg push is a single-elimination tournament where a keg is suspended from a cable between two poles, said Sergeant Knight. Four-man teams are stationed at each pole holding a charged fire hose. The two teams utilize the fire hoses to push the keg toward the other team's pole. The first team to push the keg to the opposing side wins the match. 

MSS and MXS were the two teams left to compete for the trophy after eliminating all the other teams in the tournament.

"It was a long hard fought battle against MSS." said Sergeant Lambert. "Holding that hose is more tiring than one might expect. I didn't think (the muster) would be too hard, but we (MXS) were feeling it at the end of the competition and the next day. Man, was I sore!" 

When MSS defeated MXS they earned not only the trophy, but also the right to challenge the Fire Department to a keg-push off, said Sergeant Knight.

The two teams faced off with the firefighters taking an early lead, however, key fire-hose maneuvering allowed MSS to put the Fire Department back on their heels and claim the victory. 

"The victory over the fire department was completely unexpected," said Airman Colon. "Hearing that keg bounce off the pole was music to our ears, it is one win that we will be more than willing to defend next year." 

"I have a daughter back home in Texas that is a volunteer firefighter, so I felt honored participating in such a competition," said Sergeant Lambert. "Just to see what she does in her job as well as the guys on base here was an eye-opening experience. 

"You have to be in great shape to be a firefighter. I would suggest that if someone were offered the chance to participate in a Fire Muster they should try it," he said.